


The Birthday Afterparty

by KatiePaterow



Series: Unseen Footage: Ben Gross [2]
Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: 1x08, F/M, birthday breakup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:35:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24060694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatiePaterow/pseuds/KatiePaterow
Summary: After his birthday party, it seems like the house wasn't the only mess Ben witnessed that night.
Series: Unseen Footage: Ben Gross [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734304
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	The Birthday Afterparty

"I think... I think this," he motions a finger between him and Shira, "this is over." 

The word “over” must’ve really caught her attention because she became less preoccupied with her phone which she was using to write him a greeting to post on Instagram, something she hadn’t done personally and she was instead looking at him, her gaze intent. "What?"

"We're done. I'm breaking up with you."

She gasped at him, clearly surprised and confused, her face slowly turning from a frown to a glare and finally she settled on laughing nervously. "Ben, baby- you're acting really weird right now. Why would you want to break up- you know what? You're just drunk. You're totally gonna regret this, like, tomorrow."

"What do you mean why? You didn't even get me anything and it's my birthday! If I hadn't thrown this stupid party, I highly doubt you'd be here right now." He tried to calm himself down, but the Grandma Juice is now in full control of his mouth and his emotions.

"Is that it? You're mad I didn't buy you anything? You're fucking loaded! What more could you possibly want that you don't already have or you couldn't have." And there it was again. Money was both a curse and a blessing to Ben. Because of how much his family had, it created this image of an amazing life people always thought he had. The façade that he wore every single day of his life was not something he chose or created, it was just a part of the life he was born into and so he just went with it. For tonight though, he was tired of the pretense and he subconsciously gave himself some slack because it was his birthday. 

“No, it’s not just that! I know you’re using me! You know you’re using me! Everyone does!” While he knew it was unfair to unload all the pent up shit he has on Shira, he was also just telling her the truth because if not now then maybe he would never be able to say what he needed to say.

As always, Shira didn’t back down from a fight, so instead of acting like the hurt victim in the situation, she decided to smirk and laugh at his face. “As if the benefits in this relationship are one-sided. You need me, too. You just can’t admit it because admitting you’re a loser is too much for your narcissistic, thirsty ass can handle.” And _damn, if that wasn’t the truth_.

“You know what?” She continues. "You’re right. THIS is over! But don’t you ever tell people you broke up with me because I’m not allowing that! I’M breaking up with you!”

Tired of it all and also slightly guilty and embarrassed, Ben just sighed. “Okay. Whatever. Just go, Shira.”

She was about to leave, but she thought she might milk this relationship for all that she could have for one last time. “What? You’re not even gonna give me some cash to get home?”

“Don’t you have a car?”

“Whatever.”

And with that, Shira is out of the door and Ben is left by himself again as he should be and as he usually is. He looks around the house, annoyed by how everything was a mess and he contemplated whether he should get someone to clean it up but decided against it. He was pretty sure someone would tidy up the place eventually and asking for it right now felt more like an inconvenience rather than a solution.

Without willing himself to, he finds himself walking towards the direction of their vibrantly red screening room. He stops the moment his eyes get a glimpse of the white box of California brittle Devi brought him. It was a _silly_ gift and he knew it, but the effect it had on him was instantaneous and intense. He found himself smile a little, he felt warm all over but that is until he remembered the events that occurred after that nice moment they shared. It was pretty crappy how he was feeling. The ugly mix of embarrassment, regret and guilt was enough to worsen the storm in

He thought about how he not only thrown himself at Devi twice ( _talk about desperate_ ), but he didn’t even bother help her after she clumsily fell on the pool and it made him wanna know why?

_Why why why why why why why?_

An answer presented itself in his head and suddenly he felt like maybe he shouldn’t have asked for a reason. _Paxton_. But of course, it wasn’t just Paxton. It was a lot of other complicated things that he probably shouldn’t think about right now if he didn’t want to miss out on sleep or have a headache that would surely make him want to die. Although he was in no position to face what it really was he was experiencing right now, he knew what it was and he didn’t know how to feel about it. He releases a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding and grabs Devi’s gift and clutches it a little too tightly against his chest.

As he exits the room, Patty appears in the dark already occupied with picking up the red cups and the other things splayed on the floor. Seemingly hearing his footsteps, Patty turns around and gives him the large smile she always wears every time they interact. “My sweet Prince,” she whispers. “Or maybe I should say, my sweet 16 prince.”

Ben shake his head at her, his smile mirroring her own. “You do know that actually didn’t make sense, right? But thank you, Patty.”

Patty says nothing in return but instead touches his shoulder in a way that Ben had craved for a long time. That and him being under the influence of the Grandma Juice had him wanting to hug Patty and so he did just that. Patty was noticeably shocked by Ben’s actions but that only made her hug him tighter. “Happy birthday, Ben.”

* * *

After the moment he shared with Patty, Ben went immediately to his room to get ready to sleep. Having done his normal nightly routine, he turns off the light and puts the sleeping mask on his eyes. He moved around his bed, trying to feel comfortable but he was startled by the hard thing that bumped his elbow. He takes off the mask to see what it was- it was the See's Candy Box Devi gave him. He tried to think of what to do with it, because apparently it was difficult to figure out where to place a box of candies that you received as a birthday gift from your ex-nemesis turned friend. _And maybe something even more than that,_ whispered an annoying thought in his head. He glares at the thing for the longest time until, without his own accord, his hands moved to touch it and then his whole arm was surrounding it. Kind of like the way you would hug a pillow in your sleep. Without the creepy touching-it-with-your-hand thing, of course.

He knew what he was dealing with. He knew it in his bones. But whatever it was, maybe it was easier to deal with tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was kinda based on the idea I saw on twitter that perhaps Shira and Ben have broken up in between 1x08-1x10 where the account @La2LandMachine compared Ben's locker from 1x02 and 1x10. I thought it was a very interesting observation and boy do I hope it becomes canon(if they get picked up for s2). Also, I've read a lot of similar ideas of a BenxShira breakup but I've never seen a fanfic where Shira gives even the tiniest shit so I thought I'd do that to see if it could work. Did it? I don't think Shira is that level of bitchy btw but she could be. Anyways, I hope any of this made sense and I wish y'all have fun reading!


End file.
